Radio Review: 8 May

You can do a lot with 15 minutes on radio, which is why it’s always painful to hear inept broadcasters filling air time with guff. I’ll refrain from naming any names, but certain local radio phone-in hosts plying their trade not a million miles from where I live should have burning ears right now.

Thankfully, comedian John Moloney, whose Radio 4 series begins next week, uses his time very wisely if the preview I’ve heard is representative of the four-part series. After a brief preamble in which he explains a little of his background – he’s from Ilford, where people feel ‘overdressed with both ears’ – Moloney flies off into a routine about stressed pets, specifically his self-harming cat Edward.

Moloney, a stalwart of the stand-up comedy circuit, has a superbly deadpan manner, which is perfectly suited to wondering how an animal that sleeps 23 hours a day and spends most of the rest ‘pooing and eating’ can have any concept of anxiety, but he admits that Edward loves watching the Discovery Channel.

I don’t want to spoil the gags, but I found myself roaring with laughter at Moloney’s observations about documentaryobsessed Edward resisting being put into a pet carrier by mimicking the structural integrity of a pyramid. ‘He’s sitting there,’ Moloney muses, ‘thinking “The pyramids have been standing for 4,000 years and our appointment is at 3 o’clock. Chances are I’m going to win this”.’

Basically, the show consists of one laugh-laden shaggy cat story, with Moloney supported by Julia Sutherland, Gareth Waugh and Fred MacAulay. I recommend you listen and follow to the letter the advice Moloney gives at the end.

The John Moloney Show, BBC Radio 4, Tuesdays, 11pm.
Louis on Twitter: @LFBarfe or email: wireless@cheeseford.net